The death of a teenager in intensive care will help thousands of patients after a revolutionary computer system was donated to Royal Berkshire Hospital in his memory.

When Aman Kapila, 16, died of a brain haemorrhage in January this year his family and friends were desperate to ensure his memory lived on.

Many have raised money for Royal Berkshire Hospital where he died and where his father Atul works as a consultant anaesthetist in the same department.

But when family friend Karen Bonnett approached her bosses at BT Mobile Services Mobility Solutions she managed to secure a pioneering wireless network that should revolutionise patient care at the hospital.

Yesterday Mr Kapila and his family helped launch the hand-held computers in the ICU, which allow doctors and nurses to access and input patient’s notes, x-rays and condition checks.

Mrs Bonnet said: “Aman died very unexpectedly and it was a tragic loss to his family.

“It felt right to do something in his memory that would benefit others and, as BT is very much a caring for the community company, when I approached the senior management they were happy to help out.

“We are happy to be able to launch this new wireless system and we hope it will benefit both the staff and the patients.”

Doctors and nurses in the Intensive Care Unit, Clinical Decisions Unit and Hopkins Ward will be piloting the system before it is installed across the whole of the hospital.

Mr Kapila, of Pangbourne, said: “With these new PDAs, nurses are able to put a patient’s vital signs, like temperature and pulse, through the network system, the information is distributed to the outreach nurses who look after patients on the ward immediately so there is no delay with paper work.

“If the patient reaches a level which is dangerous, if they reach a certain score and become more ill or nearer death, staff are alerted by the system and can get the appropriate member of staff to the patient quicker.

“The newer system that is being piloted enables doctors to pick up emails and patient’s notes on the ward.

“Doctors doing a round can now access a patient’s x-rays at their bedside, it just makes the whole process more efficient and the staff have all reacted very positively to this.”

Professor Ann Sheen OBE, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust chief executive, said: “This is a unique and groundbreaking system that we are delighted to be using here at the hospital.

“The trust is leading the way in terms of this advanced technology and we feel confident that it will be a huge benefit to the hospital and that patients in Reading will get really good care and treatment as a result.”